An interesting review of The Daily, which has just launched on iPad. The big question will be are they offering enough value and differentiation from other news products for users to pay for it. We’ll see. I’m a bit disappointed by some of this review, but I’m sure they are not done innovating.
One bright spot worth noting was their approach to social media sharing. They are essentially allowing users to share bits of content with non-subscribers via a web interaction. This is smart.
Mobile is increasingly the device of choice for email. According to recent research, the ratio of mobile email activity spikes noticeably in the early-morning hours, between 5 and 8am, as mobile phone users are waking up and checking email before starting their day. As I’ve pointed out in other posts, mobile applications stumble when it comes time to share content via social media, email or SMS. Email newsletters are also problematic. A user cannot “click into their app” from one of these other content types. In this sense, the apps are closed off from any interaction via push from other channels.
Large media publishers have already bumped into this problem. I can only suggest that neglecting a robust mobile web presence is a huge mistake. It’s the (almost) ubiquitous connective tissue for mobile interactions.